Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Purchased by Quantbot Technologies LP

Quantbot Technologies LP increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 655.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,250 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,158 shares during the quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $4,830,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 78,471.1% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,248,763 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,658,713,000 after acquiring an additional 6,240,810 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 61,769.3% in the 3rd quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 4,132,870 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,365,820,000 after purchasing an additional 4,126,190 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,243,603,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 87,269.8% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 1,067,659 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $625,125,000 after purchasing an additional 1,066,437 shares during the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 4,658.5% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 909,548 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $520,662,000 after purchasing an additional 890,434 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.25, for a total transaction of $552,830.25. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 32,103 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,269,825.75. The trade was a 2.79 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $604.46, for a total transaction of $21,712,807.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 622,431 shares of company stock worth $408,968,491. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $596.25 on Monday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $414.50 and a 12 month high of $740.91. The stock has a market cap of $1.51 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.93, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $655.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $606.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.33 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.525 dividend. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 8.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $800.00 target price (up from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Arete Research raised Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Mizuho boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Benchmark raised Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $820.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $718.31.

Meta Platforms Profile

Meta Platforms, Inc engages in the development of products that enable people to connect and share with friends and family through mobile devices, personal computers, virtual reality headsets, and wearables worldwide. It operates in two segments, Family of Apps and Reality Labs. The Family of Apps segment offers Facebook, which enables people to share, discuss, discover, and connect with interests; Instagram, a community for sharing photos, videos, and private messages, as well as feed, stories, reels, video, live, and shops; Messenger, a messaging application for people to connect with friends, family, communities, and businesses across platforms and devices through text, audio, and video calls; and WhatsApp, a messaging application that is used by people and businesses to communicate and transact privately.